As six MlAs of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) jumped onto the saffron bandwagaon, the JVM has now fallen back to the only recourse available to it — seek disqualification of the MlAs. The remaining lot of the JVM will now approach Assembly Speaker to seek disqualification of the defecting MlAs. The JVM had appealed to the Speaker of Jharkhand Assembly earlier also, however, as the hopes of preventing defection vanished, the party decided to meet Speaker of Jharkhand Assembly, Dinesh Oraon, on Thursday to justify their demands of disqualification. Notably, six MlAs — Naveen Jaiswal (Hatia), Alok Chaurasia (Daltonganj), Amar Kumar Bauri (Chandankiyari), Ganesh Ganjhu (Simaria), Janki Prasad Yadav (Barktha) and Randhir Singh of Sarath —joined BJP in Delhi on Wednesday morning.
“We will meet the Speaker and will request him to cancel membership of the MlAs in next two days. We will take the matter to the court and also to the people’s court. We will apprise electorates of the six constituencies of their (MlAs who joined BJP) acts,” said JVM leader Pradeep Yadav. Although the party has been shaken to the core, it has mustered strength to intensify protests and go on fast on the day of cabinet expansion. The JVM claimed that it has enough evidences to press for the disqualification of the MlAs.
The JVM observed ‘black day’ to protest entry of six MlAs elected on party symbol in the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and waved black flags to Chief Minister Raghubar Das as the carcade passed the JVM’s office at Dibdih.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha criticised the BJP’s central leadership as well as State’s leadership and alleged that the party was striving for getting close to the magic figure by poaching elected representatives of other political parties. The JMM also requested the Speaker to disqualify the six MlAs as per the provisions of the Indian Constitution and called for social boycott of all the MlAs who chose to side with the BJP. In a press communiqué the JMM questioned moral values of the MlAs for choosing the BJP.
“The time has come for the Speaker to discharge constitutional responsibilities, legislative duties and establish himself as the representative of a civilized society,” said JMM Spokesperson, Surpiyo Bhattacharya. The BJP’s gain of strength in the Jharkhand Assembly frustrated the Congress that coined the development as the manifestation of the real face of the saffron party and its ambitions of merging other parties into its fold. The Congress accused the BJP-led government of resorting to ‘horse trading’ to increase its strength in the Assembly.
As the event shocked the political fraternity, parties cutting across ideologies circulated their opinion against the BJP. The fledgling political party, Bhartiya Suraaj Dal said the BJP’s attempt to wean away the MlAs of JVM, is a serious assault on democratic values and that the party condemns not only the BJP, but it also condemns the MlAs, who got elected on JVM tickets and have immediately defected to the BJP.